Please turn in your Bibles this evening to Revelation chapter 8 as we continue our study through the Word of God. In Revelation chapter 6 we saw Jesus Christ begin to open the seven seals that were upon the scroll or the title deed to the earth. And as each seal was opened we saw a corresponding judgment of God come upon the inhabitants of the earth. By the time we came to the sixth seal there were great earthquakes, every island and mountain was moved out of its place, the sun grew dark, the moon appeared red as blood, stars fell from heaven, the sky receded as a scroll!

            Obviously this occurs in the second half of the 7-year Tribulation Period or as it is known, the Great Tribulation. And the events of this seal bring us close to the end, probably within a year or at least 6 months till the return of Jesus.

            Then in chapter 7 there is a pause to fill in some details of the Tribulation Period, a kind of breather before the seventh seal is opened and more judgment is poured out.  And in this chapter we saw 144,000 Jew’s get saved and sealed by God for protection during this time, prior to God pouring out His judgment once again.  We also saw some of the fruit of their labor as an innumerable number of people will come to know the Lord through the witnessing of these 144,000 Jewish witnesses for Christ.  And as these sinners become saints through Christ, heaven is filled with praise and worship unto God for what He has done!

            That is where we left off last time in our study, the sounds of worship but something very strange is going to happen as we open up our study in Revelation chapter 8 this evening. So with that said, let’s begin reading in Revelation chapter 8, beginning in verse 1 and see what the Lord has for us this evening.

VERSE 1

            Think about this for a minute.  Heaven is filled with the praise and worship of God and then, all of a sudden everyone is quiet. There is no sound made for half an hour!  Now that may not seem like a long period of time, but if I was to stand here and not talk for only 5 minutes, you would be very uncomfortable, it would seem like an eternity!  What is going on in heaven that there is this silence?

            As this seventh seal is opened we will see the prayers of the saints being thrown down to the earth and thus, this leads the way to the seven trumpet judgments and then the seven bowl judgments that seem to escalate in their severity. And thus, this silence is in response to the cataclysmic judgments that are coming and the time of God chaining up Satan, dealing with sin, the exaltation of Christ, which causes heaven to hush in silence as this is about to unfold!

            Do we see this played out in the Scriptures?  Yes we do!  For instance, in Zephaniah 1:7 we are told, “Be silent in the presence of the Lord GOD; For the day of the LORD is at hand, For the LORD has prepared a sacrifice; He has invited His guests.”  Here we see a silence of awe in response to the holocaust of Divine judgment that is going to be poured out!  In Psalm 76:8-9 we are told, “You caused judgment to be heard from heaven; The earth feared and was still, When God arose to judgment, To deliver all the oppressed of the earth.”  Also in Habakkuk 2:20 we are told, “But the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him.”   And in Zechariah 2:13 we are told, “Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD, for He is aroused from His holy habitation!” 

            And so, as this seventh seal is opened we see the Lord preparing to step onto the scene to set-up His kingdom, but before He does there is coming a devastating judgment upon the earth. And all of heaven now waits in silence for this to be unveiled.  Think of it like a piece of artwork that is going to be unveiled and as the cover is about to be lifted, the crowds are silent in anticipation.  That is what we are seeing here in heaven.

VERSE 2

            Here we see seven angels who stand in the presence of God and they were given seven trumpets. As these trumpets are sounded there will be judgments poured out, the first four dealing with the earth and the last 3 with man. This is, you might say, the prelude to the sounding of these trumpet judgments!

            Now in the Old Testament we see trumpets that are used to call an assembly together, Numbers 10:2. To sound the alarm for war, Numbers 10:9. They were used for religious feasts, Numbers 10:10.  They were used to announce news, I Samuel 13:3.  They were used to announce a new king, I Kings 1:34, 39.  They were used in worship, I Chronicles 16:6, 42.  Also, trumpets will be used to announce the Day of the LORD, Zephaniah 1:14-16.  But in the New Testament, we see two primary uses for trumpets.  The first is to call the church home, we call that the Rapture of the church as the Lord takes His Bride home. And the second, as we have seen, is the sounding of these trumpet judgments!

VERSES 3-4

            This angel here in verse 3, some feel, is Jesus Christ because of the priestly work that this angel is doing, being a mediator. But I don’t believe that is a correct interpretation. John says that this is “another angel” and the Greek word that John uses for “another” is ALLOS, which speaks of another of the same kind, another one of these angles. He did not use the Greek word HETEROS, which means another of a different kind.  Thus, this is not Jesus but an angel, like the seven holding the seven trumpets in the presence of God!

            The altar of incense stood before the holy place in the temple.  It stood in front of the veil between the table of showbread on the right and the seven-branch oil-burning lamp on the left as you faced the veil.  And the incense was burned and offered to God before the first and after the last sacrifices of the day. To burn this incense the priest was to take the hot, fiery coals from the brazen altar, the place where the sacrifices were offered, and bring them to the holy place, to the altar of incense.

            The altar of sacrifice was located outside of the holy place, and thus, the coals from this altar must first be appropriated by the priest and then taken to the altar of incense where they ignite the incense as a sweet smelling aroma before God.

            Interestingly enough, in Psalm 141:2 we are told, “Let my prayer be set before You as incense, The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.”  And so we see that the offering of incense relates to our prayers ascending to the throne of God, just as we are told here in Revelation chapter 8.

            In reading this it almost seems as if God has ignored these prayers of the saints, placing them aside. Is that true?  Not at all, God has not ignored them it just was not the time for Him to act upon them.  What are these prayers that God is now acting upon?  It is as I have said, for Satan to be destroyed, for sin to be defeated, for righteousness to fill this land. In other words,  “ . . . Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.”  Matthew 6:9-10.  God is ready to act upon these prayers – and His kingdom will come!

VERSE 5

            Here we see the prayers of the saints that have ascended to the throne of God, cast down in judgment against the inhabitants of the earth.  And it may have been silent in heaven for half an hour, but upon this earth we hear and see, “ . . . noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake.”  Revelation 8:5.  These prayers of the saints are acted upon as the Divine wrath of God is poured out. It is as H. B. Swete said, “The prayers of the saints return to the earth in wrath.”

            Torrance puts it this way when he says, “That means that more potent, more powerful than all the dark and mighty powers let loose in the world, more powerful than anything else, is the power of prayer set ablaze by the fire of God cast upon the earth.”

            As you look at this Divine wrath being poured out, this righteous judgment of God being unleashed against a Christ rejecting world, you truly can understand the words of Paul in Hebrews 10:31 as he tells us, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”  Why is that?  Paul once again tells us in Hebrews 12:29, “For our God is a consuming fire.”  You see folks, God will either refine you in the fire or destroy you with his fire of judgment.  But each life will be touched by the fire of God, in one way or another!

VERSE 6

            As we are going to see in these trumpet judgment blasts, heaven’s half hour of silence is abruptly shattered with a firestorm of judgment that bursts upon this earth, God’s judgment will resume!

            Also, keep in mind what we were told in Revelation 7:1-3, “After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, ‘Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.’”

            These 144,000 have been sealed by God for protection through this time and now we are going to see 1/3 of the vegetation destroyed, 1/3 of the oceans destroyed, 1/3 of the fresh water supply destroyed, and 1/3 of the sunlight destroyed in just the first four trumpet judgments!  The winds of judgment are about to blow upon the land as these four restraining angels step out of their way!

VERSE 7

            As this first trumpet is sounded we see 1/3 of the earth’s vegetation destroyed. Many have a hard time taking this literally but if you don’t, then what does it mean?  I like the way that Seiss put it when he wrote: “The truth is, if earth, trees, and grass do not mean earth, trees and grass, no man can tell what they mean.  Letting go the literal signification of the record, we launch out upon an endless sea of sheer conjecture.” I would have to agree and thus, I believe we need to take this literally!

            If this judgment sounds familiar it is because it closely parallels the seventh plague that came upon Egypt in Exodus chapter 9, where we are told, “‘Therefore send now and gather your livestock and all that you have in the field, for the hail shall come down on every man and every animal which is found in the field and is not brought home; and they shall die.’ . . . And the hail struck throughout the whole land of Egypt, all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail struck every herb of the field and broke every tree of the field.”  Exodus 9:19, 25.  And thus, here in Revelation we see 1/3 of the earth’s vegetation destroyed here in this first trumpet blast as this hail was hurled down upon the earth. We also see this in Joel 2:30-31 where we are told, “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.”

            Now how do we explain this judgment? Is it an atomic explosion or a meteor shower or some other natural disaster?  Henry Morris makes this intrusting observation regarding that the blood may be actual blood or it could be something else. He makes these remarks in his book, The Revelation Record:

            The masses of water vapor blown skyward might well condense in the intense updrafts as hailstones. . . . The blood of entrapped men and animals might be mingled with them, or possibly showers of liquid water drops might be so contaminated with dust and gases as to appear blood – red . . . It may be possible that angelic hosts will divert the path of one of  the many comets with which the solar system abounds so that the earth will pass through its tail.  The most spectacular comet with which we are familiar – Halley’s Comet – would not need to stray too far from its normal orbit to envelop Earth in its fiery train. Whether such an experience would produce the phenomena described in this passage we do not know, since our scientists have no experimental data to go on yet.”

- Henry Morris, The Revelation Record, p. 146

            Folks, those are interesting explanations but to tell you the truth, I don’t know what this is for certain.  What I do know is how devastating this judgment is as 1/3 of the trees are destroyed and all the grass is destroyed!  God has a plan and He tells us the consequences of this judgment, this first trumpet blast!

            Now if any of you are tree-huggers out to save the planet, let me say this.  Man, fallen man that is, has failed to take care of the land that God has entrusted to him.  But make no mistake about it, this judgment of God will far outshine anything we have done to this planet. I guess earth day will be a wash out that year!

            Now you know why in Revelation chapter 7 God had to place a seal of protection upon those 144,000 before He unleashed these judgments.  And so with the first trumpet blast, 1/3 of the earth’s vegetation is destroyed and it is just the beginning!

VERSES 8-9

            As the second trumpet is sounded we see 1/3 of the oceans destroyed. Now will this be a literal mountain that is thrown into the sea?  Again, look carefully to what the text is saying, it is “something like a great mountain.”  You see, it wasn’t a mountain but its massive size resembled that of a mountain. This could be some kind of gigantic meteorite or asteroid with its tail of fire flashing through the sky and crashing into the oceans. Again, God can use nature to do this or He can do whatever He wants but whatever He does use, we can see the devastating effects it will bring.  In this we see 1/3 of the sea destroyed, 1/3 of the life that is in the sea is also destroyed, and 1/3 of the ships are destroyed.  So don’t wait too long to go on that cruise!

            In this second trumpet judgment blast we see 1/3 of the oceans destroyed and-so-on. Keep in mind this is only the second trumpet judgment, there are four more to go before we even get to the bowl judgments!

VERSES 10-11

            As the third trumpet judgment is sounded, 1/3 of the fresh water supply is affected as this star, called Wormwood, comes crashing to the earth. The Greek word for “star” is ASTER and it speaks of any celestial body other than the sun or moon. If this is a comet or meteor that crashes to the earth, can the debris from its tail pollute the fresh water supply? It is possible, but again, God has a plan and we see the effects.

            The name of this star that fell to the earth, as I have said, is Wormwood or bitterness.  There is a desert plant or shrub that is bitter but I think the idea here is the bitterness of judgment and how deadly it will be!  In the Old Testament Wormwood is mentioned some eight times and it is always associated with bitterness, poison and death.  For example, in Jeremiah 9:13-15 we are told, “And the LORD said, ‘Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice, nor walked according to it, but they have walked according to the dictates of their own hearts and after the Baals, which their fathers taught them,’ therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.’”  You see, it speaks of judgment, a judgment from God!

            Now in reading this don’t come to the conclusion that God is vengeful or hateful, that is not His nature, there is no darkness in Him at all!  Our God is gracious and merciful, longsuffering and so much more and even during this period of time known as the Great Tribulation we see many who come to know Him, but there are also many that refuse and they will be judged!

            In Exodus chapter 15, beginning in verse 22 as the children of Israel are wandering in the wilderness, we are told, “So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah.   And the people complained against Moses, saying, ‘What shall we drink?’ So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet.” Exodus 15:22-25.

These bitter waters were made sweet as a tree was cast into the midst of it. I am here to tell you that your bitter life, which is destined for death, can only be made sweet as you place or appropriate another tree into it.  That is the cross of Jesus Christ.  Only He can take that which is bitter and make it better.  Only He can take that which is distasteful and make it sweet, if you let Him!  You don=t have to drink those bitter waters but you can drink from the living water, Jesus Christ, if you appropriate the cross of Calvary into your life!  You see, if you refuse to obey the true God, the fountain of living waters, then God will cause you to drink from the polluted waters of this world, and it will kill you!

            And even during this time of Great Tribulation God will extend His grace and mercy to those who will come to the cross of Jesus and receive Him as their Lord and Savior!

            Now here in Revelation we see the fresh water supply affected.  It has been reported that some 440 billion gallons of water fall from the sky in the form of rain, snow and hail in this country on a daily basis. Of that, 25% or 110 billion gallons makes its way into the lakes, rivers and reservoirs that are then used as a source of drinking water.

A study was done on 3,360 reservoirs which showed 30% or 1,008 of those reservoirs were contaminated to the point of not even meeting the minimal safety standards for drinking water.  Here on Lake Michigan we have to be careful with the fish we eat due to pollution.  And so, as this judgment comes, the fresh water supply, 1/3 of it, will be so badly contaminated that many will die from drinking it.  And again, I don’t believe man brings this about, but it is a judgment of God!

Again, it is very bad, but in Revelation 16:4 we see all the fresh water supply contaminated.  You see, they refused the living waters, Jesus Christ, and without Him you will always be thirsty - and they will be!

            And so, here in the third trumpet judgment we see 1/3 of the fresh water supply destroyed, poisoned and we still have four trumpet judgments to go even before we get to the bowl judgments!

VERSE 12

            Here in the fourth trumpet judgment we see 1/3 of the sun destroyed or 1/3 less light upon the earth. This also affects 1/3 of the moon and 1/3 of the stars!  This is a judgment of the heavens you might say that affects the inhabitants of the earth. With this 33% reduction in light it would seem that there will be 8 hours of daylight and 16 hours of darkness, which is interesting to me because a person refuses to come to the light because they love darkness, we now see God give them what they want!

            In Isaiah 13:9-10 we are told, “Behold, the day of the LORD comes, Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, To lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it.  For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, And the moon will not cause its light to shine.”  Also, in Ezekiel 32:7-8 we are told, “‘When I put out your light, I will cover the heavens, and make its stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, And the moon shall not give her light. All the bright lights of the heavens I will make dark over you, And bring darkness upon your land,’ Says the Lord GOD.”  And Amos declares, “‘And it shall come to pass in that day,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘That I will make the sun go down at noon, And I will darken the earth in broad daylight.’”  Amos 8:9.

            It is just as the New Testament tells us.  Jesus said this would take place in Luke 21:25-28, “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.  Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”

And in Matthew 24:29-30 Jesus tells us, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”

            How is this going to happen? I don’t know but He said it, thus He will do it, I just believe it!

            Now, as we see this fourth trumpet judgment sound and 1/3 of the sun is darkened, 1/3 of the moon and 1/3 of the stars, you would think it can’t get any worse! Folks, it can and it will, there are three more trumpet blasts to come. Listen to what verse 13 says of these three trumpet blasts that are about to blow here in Revelation.

VERSE 13

            This angelic messenger of God, I don’t believe this is an eagle as some Bible translations tell us, and he cries out “Woe!” and not just once, but three times!  Why does he do that? Because of what is about to take place!  And next time we will look at two of these final three trumpet blasts.

            Why does God allow this angel to make this proclamation?  Some may say to rub it in the nose of rebellious man!  I don’t think so, that is not our God.  I believe it is a warning to man that he needs to repent and get right with God for the judgment is only going to get worse and worse or as the angel said, “Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”  You see, our God is a God of grace and mercy even at this point in the Great Tribulation Period!

            Listen to this story because it relates to judgment time, it is getting closer and closer. We are told:

A Scottish lawyer was a wicked man. Once he hired a horse and, either through accident or ill usage, killed the animal.  Naturally the owner insisted on being paid its value, together with some compensation for the loss of its use.  The man of law acknowledged his liability, and said he was perfectly willing to pay, but at the moment he was a little straightened for ready cash.  Would the hirer of the animal accept a promissory note?  “Certainly,” he said.

Whereupon the lawyer further said that he must be allowed a long date.  “You can fix your own time,” said the creditor.  The wicked man then drew the note, making it payable at the day of judgment.  Eventually the creditor took the matter to court, and there, in defense, the lawyer asked the judge to look at the note.  He did so, and then replied: “The promissory note is perfectly good sir and as this is [the] day of judgment, I declare that you pay tomorrow.”

- Methodist Recorder

            As I close this evening, let me leave you with this to think about, especially in the days we are living in. In Zephaniah 2:3 we are told, “Seek the LORD, all you meek of the earth, Who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden In the day of the LORD’s anger.”  If you don’t know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you need to ask Him today to forgive you of your sins and be Lord of your life. For, as Paul said, “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness.”   The Day of God’s Judgment is coming!